One of the things that appealed to me about homeschooling was that I wouldn’t have to have a schedule. I relished the idea of getting up when I felt like it. I also tried doing laundry and dishes and teaching when I felt like it when I started homeschooling. The problem was I didn’t feel like it very often! Something needed to change or I felt I would have to send my kids to school.
Discovering Routines
What changed is that I came across some emails by a woman named Marla Cilley — aka FLYLady. She gave me an alternative to a rigid schedule in her morning and evening routines. It seems so obvious that life runs more smoothly when you have an organized pattern of activities, but it wasn’t to me. The impact of loading and running the dishwasher each evening was huge. So was scheduling errands and doctor’s appointments on the same day of the week. There were many other benefits.
But when it came to school work, I was very much influenced by Managers of Their Homes. I wished I could be as super organized as Teri Maxwell so I initially created a packed schedule to manage my growing family. Then I was very frustrated that I never EVER followed it to a tee. I returned to a routine for schoolwork, but then managed to take the routine to an extreme, too. Today I use a fluid combination of a schedule and a routine, helped along by my children keeping me accountable. In other words, “Mom, are we going to start school?”
Your Challenge for This Week
#1 You and Older Children Track Your Routine or Schedule
The biggest mistake I have made where routines and schedules are concerned is trying to make too many changes at once. Rather than trying to plan the ideal routine, see what you’re doing right now. I really dislike time tracking in general, but an overview of what you’re actually doing is a very good idea. Older kids can definitely participate in this as time management is an increasingly important skill in our culture. Best not to let them record what you and others are “actually” doing in their opinions. 😉 You can track on paper listing the hours of the day on the left and your basic activities on the right. If you have subscribed to Psychowith6, you will have access to subscriber freebies that includes a form for tracking your routine this week.
#2 Keep Tracking and Choose One Schedule Change to Try
The book, The House That Cleans Itself, taught me to use what’s already happening to my advantage. Let me give you an example to clarify. Let’s say that you’d really like to do family devotions after dinner. But you see from tracking your schedule of actual activities that you tend to watch movies as a family instead. You could a) watch Christian or biblical films at that time, b) discuss secular movies from a biblical worldview, looking up verses, or c) you could choose a better time for family devotions. Trying to enforce more than one schedule change will likely frustrate your family and drain your energy. Pray about the change that would have the biggest impact. You have plenty of time to make more changes as this one becomes second nature.
#3 Keep Tracking and Plan a Time to Evaluate Your Schedule Change
You may not want to keep tracking (I get it!), but the days fluctuate and you may see some important patterns that have to be addressed. Implement your one change (older kids can choose an individual change also) and put a note on your calendar or use the reminder function of a smart phone to assess how well it’s working. This is the step so many of us leave out. Assessment keeps changes in the problem-solving realm, rather than the blaming realm. If it’s working, wonderful. Discussing it with the kids (if it impacts them) will teach them how to problem solve and manage time. If it’s not, it’s important to determine why not and brainstorm potential solutions. Don’t give up assuming that you’re just not organized.
#4 Keep Tracking and Choose a Schedule Format
Continue tracking today and through the weekend if you’d like. Save this information for next summer when we will be working on your homeschooling schedule in depth. Decide on how to keep your schedule or routine visible. I have my HomeRoutines app on my phone, a schedule in my homeschool planner and the kids’, and I have it posted in the kitchen and school room using magnetic frames. Are you getting the idea that I don’t want to forget? One change I plan to make is to acknowledge that the schedule/routine can be regularly updated. I have the file on Word. It doesn’t take much to update it and reprint.
I would love to know the one change you’re implementing this week!
There is no more powerful habit for an organized homeschool than devotional time. We won’t find the peace we want in a pretty bin, but in a relationship with the Prince of Peace.
Personal Devotions
I did not devote time to prayer and Bible reading until I was very pregnant with my second son. At that time, I attended a Becky Tirabassi seminar as part of a Women of Faith conference. Becky told story after story of answered prayer and beseeched us to make an “appointment with the King” every day.
At the time, sad to say, I was on staff at my church, but had never read the entire Bible. When Becky asked anyone who was fully committed to keeping that important appointment, to stand up, I did. I bought Becky’s Change Your Life Daily Bible and her My Partner Prayer Notebook and I was on a personal mission. (Becky shares her philosophy in Let Prayer Change Your Life.) I was so motivated to read the Bible through in a year that I even did my reading and prayer time in the hospital after giving birth. I don’t remember anything I read, but I kept my appointment!
Couple Devotions
I made time for personal devotions that did change my life, but I made a big mistake. I didn’t include my husband in the process. He felt left out of my new habit of Scripture reading and devoted time to prayer. He felt better when I bought him his own Daily Bible. We have changed Bibles since then, but we continue to have a shared habit of reading Scripture in the morning.
Christian homeschoolers usually do a great job of teaching the Bible as a part of their curriculum. In our busy lives, it can be harder to find time to pray and read Scripture as a family. We’ve been inconsistent over the years in using formal programs that require supplies for fun activities and more successful reading missionary biographies in the evenings or doing a short devotion in the mornings. My husband will read Scripture and then lead discussion of it, use a regular devotional book, or will join us for our school Bible time. He is not one who likes to be locked into doing the same thing at the same time. We have used Character Building for Families the most consistently because it’s short, meaty, and requires no preparation.
The most powerful family prayer time approach we have used is to each pray about something we are thankful for, something we are sorry for, and something we need help with. We have really been able to feel in touch with our kids’ hearts. Many times I have been upset about something the kids have done earlier in the day, only to be moved by their confession of it in prayer and their request for help from the Holy Spirit to avoid a similar error.
Yet another family devotional practice that has been meaningful for us is to save Christmas cards and pray over a few of them each day. We have the opportunity to share with the children more about family and friends they haven’t met or don’t know well, and to experience answers to prayer, too. We often hear from the prayed-for family soon after we’ve lifted them up to the Lord.
Your Challenge for This Week
#1 Establish a time, place, and an approach to personal devotions
You don’t have to find the perfect time and place, but decide on a time when you are most likely to be able to meet with the Lord undisturbed during this season of your life. Now that I don’t have babies, I have personal devotions in the morning before the kids are up. I get comfortable in a recliner with a great reading light. In the winter, I snuggle under a faux fur blanket. I often have something to drink as well. I want my time with the Lord to be the most appealing part of my day.
In years past, I have had devotional times before bed, in the middle of the night while nursing, and at lunch time. I’ve been in bed, on the couch, and even in my car to connect with God. The time and place that make devotions consistent is what you should choose — not what someone else is doing.
I am currently reading through the Bible using the John MacArthur study Bible, read a variety of daily devotionals (both print and digital) as I feel led, and use Pocket Prayer Pro to organize my prayer time. I’ve changed how I spend this time with God many, many times. The ingredients that I feel are essential are prayer and reading Scripture. I have enjoyed using organized prayer calendars for my husband, children, extended family, and pastors. When I am going through a challenging time, I have been greatly blessed by Streams in the Desert. Before you buy something new, see what you have that haven’t read and just start.
Remember that if your devotions get interrupted, the Lord Himself has allowed it.
#2 Establish a time, place, and an approach to couple devotions.
Talk and pray with your spouse about the best way to spend time with the Lord together. Could you pray together in the morning, on the phone over lunch, or before bed? Would you like to use an organized prayer calendar or a couples devotion? Would you like to read through Scripture together and discuss it? Again, you may already own materials that you could use. Allow your spouse to lead in choosing the approach that is most comfortable for him.
#3 Establish a time, place, and an approach to family devotions.
Connecting family devotions to established routines is most likely to be effective. Could you pray and read Scripture at meal times? Perhaps bedtime is a better option. If you’d like to do devotions that require pre-planning, when could this planning be done and who could be responsible for it? Pray for wisdom about this. The most important thing is to cover the process with grace and be willing to make adjustments until you find what works for your family.
Be sure to share what works for you and your family. You can inspire others with similar situations.
If you’re anything like me, you find dozens of great ideas you could use to get and stay organized in your homeschooling and life. The problem is overwhelm! Where do you start? It often feels like you aren’t organized enough to get organized.
I’ve been there. In fact, when I gave homeschooling a try by teaching preschool 14 years ago, I was convinced I had to quit because I was so disorganized.
I was constantly forgetting appointments
I couldn’t find anything
The laundry piled up
I didn’t follow through with my curriculum
The stress made me short-tempered with the kids
Little did I know that homeschooling was the perfect remedy for a disorganized mom like me. I saw how incapable I was of doing what God had called me to do. It didn’t happen overnight, but today people consider me an organized person.
I’ve come a long way, but I still seek ways to make our homeschooling, home life, and work function as efficiently as possible. I’ve noticed that there aren’t a lot of organizing missions tailored to families who homeschool, and that’s too bad. We have specific organizing needs.
If you can relate, I invite you to join me for a year’s worth of challenges that will help us get organized enough to do all God has called us to do.
On Mondays, you can read the post, then do one 15-minute mission each remaining weekday, do an hour session over the weekend, or anything in between. One thing I forbid you to do is beat yourself up for not doing every mission. I’m telling you right now that I’m not going to do every single mission as scheduled! There are more important things in life than organization.
But if we do even a few of these missions this year, we will have a better homeschool than we had last year! That’s something to be excited about.
Please also follow the Organized Homeschool board on Pinterest for up-to-date great ideas for each challenge. Be sure to tell your friends about the challenge, too. Getting organized is always more fun with friends. If you haven’t already heard it, I invite you to listen to the Easy Way to Get Organized podcast on The Homeschool Sanity Show. I share ideas for how to get the most out of this challenge and share my fellow homeschoolers’ and podcasters’ best organizing tips.
I’m looking forward to getting organized with you this year!
Please share your organizing progress, tips, or related blog posts in the comments or on Facebook.
I hope you haven’t done all your shopping for Christmas all ready… if you have you may want to buy a big ticketed item for the whole family!
I’m so excited to bring to you, A Big Christmas Shopping Spree Giveway, where 3 readers will each win their own $250 Amazon Gift Card, to go on a shopping spree that they will never forget.
Let me introduce you to the wonderful sponsors of this amazing giveaway that you will not want to miss out on:
Here is how the Big Christmas Shopping Spree Giveaway works:
A big giveaway deserves big entry options – Between November 12th through November 18th, you can come back and register for as many options as you desire until you have entered all of them that you desire to enter.
Enter some entries more than once – You can add a new comment on a different blog every day, so visit more of the sponsors and leave a comment to have another entry! You can even tweet once a day for additional entries.
You must be 18 years old and living in the United States – The 3 winners will receive an Amazon Gift Card in the mail.
Winners will be verified – Each winner drawn will be verified that they entered the giveaway correctly.
Winners must provide mailing address within 48 hours of notification – To claim your prize, you only have 48 hours to provide your mailing address or a new winner will be drawn. No exceptions. Be sure to check your email on November 19th or 20th to be sure you don’t miss out on a shopping spree you will likely never forget!
Winners shop on Amazon – If you are one of the winners, you can shop online for all of those loved ones on your shopping list. All in time for Black Friday specials!
Now let’s get to the entry and one step closer to 3 people winning a $250 Amazon Gift Card for a Big Christmas Shopping Spree Giveaway:
If you’re like most homeschoolers, you’ve come across some great freebies — whether it’s a website, a whole curriculum, or a printable you can use in teaching your children. Maybe you’ve even heard about a book, curriculum, or iPad giveaway that you’ve entered.
The good news is you don’t have to hope that you hear about good deals like these. You can stay informed with this list of the best places to find homeschool freebies and giveaways. Pin it, bookmark it, and share it with your friends.
Your Favorite Curriculum or Website Mailing List
Signing up for the mailing list of your favorite homeschool or educational website will provide you access to exclusive freebies and giveaways. One of my favorite mailing lists is Notgrass. I’ve enjoyed excellent free unit studies from them.
Freebies & Giveaway Websites
Free Homeschool Deals – this site is hosted by Jamerrill Stewart, who not only offers information on great freebies like printables and ebooks (including free Kindle books), but has been very generous with me personally. The Once-and-for-All Meal Plan was featured on Free Homeschool Deals.
Money Saving Mom – Jamerrill also shares the best freebies here, a site where you can find more ways to be a frugal mom.
Homeschool Giveaways – Carrie Fernandez is another generous lady. Subscribing to this site will ensure you get valuable freebies. I got a curriculum I am using this year that sells for over $30!
Blessed Beyond a Doubt – Jill links to others’ printables, creates her own great printables for readers and subscribers, and lists free Kindle books of interest to homeschoolers. I shared the easiest record keeping system ever with her readers.
Are you unsure of how to enter a giveaway? Rafflecopter is a popular means of hosting a giveaway and has an explanation for you: How to Enter a Rafflecopter Giveaway. Some other sites to check for giveaways include:
PunchTab Giveaways app – This app will allow you to search for giveaways using PunchTab rather than Rafflecopter.
Low Entry Giveaways on Mom Bloggers Club – The more popular sites will offer you a lower chance of winning. This site which offers giveaways that are not all homeschool related, only features giveaways that have low entries.
Last Chance Giveaways – On the same theme, this site has low entry giveaways that are not all homeschool related.
Printables
Printables are digital products that you can print at home. Many of the websites above offer free printables, but these sites specialize in them.
Donna Young – featuring printables in many subject areas, her handwriting printables (including every kind of paper) are especially impressive.
Teachers Pay Teachers – this website offers many freebies as well as printables for purchase from teachers who may not be homeschoolers.
Facebook is a great place to find exclusive freebies and giveaways. Like the pages of your favorite curriculum vendor or blogger so you won’t miss out on great deals. Many pages offer a freebie simply for liking. Other pages have Facebook parties where prizes are offered only to attendees. Your odds of winning are excellent! Here’s how to participate in a Facebook party.
Have you liked the Homeschool Sanity page? Some other pages you should be sure to like include:
Pinterest is ideal for finding freebies. You can find giveaways, too, but often you’ll see a pin when the giveaway has ended. Search Pinterest for the exact freebie or giveaway you want, using those terms. You can also follow pinners or boards to have the best deals show up in your Pinterest feed. I pin freebies to subject-specific homeschool boards and to What’s Hot in Homeschooling. Follow me and the following boards so you can pin and share.
Google+, if you’re not familiar, is like Facebook only centered around interests rather than friends. Because there are fewer people using it, your odds of winning giveaways featured here are better. Freebies that may get lost in the fray may also better catch your attention here. As with Pinterest, you can search for freebies and giveaways and find relevant posts. I’d love for you to add me to your homeschool circle. You can also join these two communities:
Search Twitter using these hashtags (#homeschool #freebie #giveaway) and you may discover just what you’re looking for. As with Facebook, consider attending a Twitter party to win a prize reserved for party attendees. Here’s a guide if you’re a Twitter party beginner.
Do you know you can set up Google alerts to find out about exactly the freebies and giveaways you’re looking for? Perhaps you’d really like to win an iPad mini. Just enter iPad mini and giveaway as search terms and new posts that include those terms will be sent to your inbox.
Small Blogs
Smaller blogs are motivated to offer amazing freebies and giveaways to gain new readers. These blogs are likely to have low entries, too. Please remember that bloggers and businesses offer you freebies and giveaways in good faith. Please don’t subscribe, get the freebie, than immediately unsubscribe or share material with friends who haven’t subscribed. Thanks so much for your understanding.
Free Homeschool Resource Lists
I couldn’t possibly list every free website available to homeschoolers, and isn’t that wonderful? I can offer you these lists of the best free websites, however.
The Best Places to Buy or Borrow Used Homeschool Curriculum
Some of the places I listed in this post offer free curriculum. Be sure to check it out, too. Here’s a site I found recently — the sister site to Free Homeschool Deals. Curriculum Share – (members pay shipping only). If you can’t find something you need for free here, you may be able to get it for very little money using the used curriculum list.
Are there other places to find homeschool freebies and giveaways you recommend? Please leave a link in the comments.
I’m a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six. My life can be a little crazy, so I look for sanity-saving ideas to use and share. I hope you’ll read my About page to learn more.
